On the Today programme this morning David Miliband effectively completed the task he began in August last year when he ducked out of a challenge for the Labour leadership.  The task in question was to finally put an end to any prospect that he might one day be prime minister.  

Not only did he name Alan Johnson clearly as the number one challenger, but he avoided direct enquiries about his knowledge of a plot against Brown.  Time after time he ignored Jim Naughtie’s questions to deliver prepared statements about the Labour ‘project’.   He even bizarrely asserted that the forced bail out of  Lloyds Bank was an example of a ‘radical new phase’ in government policy.

The only thing that was absolutely clear in this interview is that he is too weak and indecisive to ever lead the party.